Saint John's begins its 2013-14 season with a pair of games this weekend, beginning with a 4 p.m. tip-off Saturday, Nov. 16, at Division II St. Cloud State. The Johnnies then face St. Scholastica at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17. Both games will be held at SCSU's Halenbeck Hall. – Listen Live (Saturday) | Listen Live (Sunday) | Live Stats (Both Games) | Live Video (Both Games)
Preview Video:
-Head coach Jim Smith (2:06)
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's fell 85-71 in an exhibition loss at Division II Concordia-St. Paul on Nov. 7 in St. Paul. The Golden Bears tallied 22 points off 16 SJU turnovers and shot 82.1 percent (23-for-28) from the free-throw line in the contest. Fouls were whistled to a tune of 20-10 against SJU as CSP held a 28-12 advantage in free-throw attempts. The Johnnies, however, out-shot the home team from the field by two percentage points (46.6-44.6 percent), including a 10-for-18 showing (55.6 percent) from three-point range. The Johnnies nearly trailed by only three points at the half but Concordia's Terez VanPelt drained a shot at the horn to give CSP a 44-39 lead. Ten of the 16 Johnnies that saw action in the game scored a point. Senior Jack Wittenborg (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) led SJU with 14 points. SJU lost by an 85-61 margin at home to the Golden Bears in an exhibition game last year.
755: SJU head coach Jim Smith needs one win to break his tie with Hank Iba, the long-time Oklahoma State head coach (1935-70), for 18th in college basketball history. Ed Diddle (Western Kentucky, 1923-64) is 17th with 759 career wins.
A LOOK AT THE HUSKIES: St. Cloud State (1-0 overall) started its season with a 64-51 home win over Northwestern (Minn.) on Nov. 9. Senior transfer Matt Craggs led all scorers with 13 points, a team-high nine rebounds and four blocked shots. The Huskies shot 40 percent from the field, 31 percent from three-point range. SCSU took a 29-25 lead into halftime and grabbed a 10-point lead, 41-31, at the 15:19 mark and never looked back. Last year, SCSU won the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference's North Division with a 15-7 record, while posting a 20-8 mark overall. The Huskies led all of Division II with the fewest turnovers per game (10.1) and return four of their top six scorers from last year's team: senior guard Damarius Cruz (10.4 ppg.), junior guard Kevin Levandoski (9.5 ppg.), junior forward Connor Niehaus (6.6 ppg.) and sophomore guard Jordan Poydras (6.4 ppg.).
LAST YEAR: St. Cloud State ended the first half with a 19-4 run and never looked back in a 67-48 win at Saint John's in the season opener for both teams last year (Nov. 16, 2013) in Collegeville. SJU cut the deficit to 12 (41-29) with 16:37 remaining, but the Huskies scored the game's next seven points to end the threat. SCSU tallied 17 points off 13 SJU turnovers in the first half alone. Chris Neumann '13 led the Johnnies with 10 points and six rebounds, while sophomore Joe Risinger (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) posted nine points in his SJU debut. Senior Seth Marx (Maple Grove, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) added seven points and six rebounds. Theo Rothstein led all scorers with 16 points and Shaun Jensen added 13 points and six assists. SJU out-rebounded SCSU 47-37 in the game, but committed 19 turnovers, left nine points at the free-throw line (9-for-18) and shot 17.6 percent (3-for-17) from three-point range. The Huskies collected 15 points off 11 offensive rebounds and 24 points off the 19 SJU turnovers in the contest.
SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 21-26 against St. Cloud State under the direction of head coach Jim Smith, including an 8-17 record in St. Cloud. The Huskies have won 13 of the last 16 meetings overall between the two schools.
A LOOK AT THE SAINTS: St. Scholastica ended the 2012-13 season with a 9-16 record (7-7 UMAC) and missed the conference playoffs for the second time in the last three seasons. CSS needs to replace Brett Tester (13.8 ppg.) and Jonah Dahlman (11.6 ppg.), who were two of its three leading scorers last year. The Saints return only one senior, Steve Golobich, and one junior, LaMonte Hall (a transfer from Saint Mary's). Sophomore Trevor Morlock transferred to St. Scholastica from Minnesota-Crookston mid-season and led the team in rebounding (6.7 rpg.), while finishing second in scoring (11.9 ppg.) as a freshman. CSS was picked to finish fourth in the UMAC preseason coaches' poll and begins its season Saturday against NAIA Mayville State (N.D.).
TWO YEARS AGO: SJU made 14 of 17 free throws in the second half and dissolved an eight-point deficit to defeat St. Scholastica 69-67 on Nov. 19, 2011, in St. Cloud. SJU found itself down 38-33 at halftime thanks to the Saints' 60.9-percent effort from the field. The tides turned however, as CSS shot just 39.3 percent in the game's final 20 minutes. Marx led the Johnnies with 17 points and nine rebounds. Andy Burns '12 and Aaron Barmore '12 followed with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Ten of Burns' 14 points came in the second half. Chris Hamers led all scorers with 26 points on eight of 17 from three-point range. Brett Tester added 22 points and 11 boards.
SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 4-0 all-time against St. Scholastica, including a 2-0 record at Halenbeck Hall.
